I met someone who was in a bad car accident in Rochester about five years ago. Very serious injuries, multiple surgeries, two weeks in Rochester General Hospital, eight months out of work. (He’s better now, thank God.)
He said he settled the case for a lot of money. Curious, I asked who his lawyer was. He said, “Oh, I didn’t have a lawyer. I just talked directly with the insurance company. They made it so easy!” I thought to myself, “easy for them you mean!”
It’s no secret that insurance companies want to settle injury claims as quickly and cheaply as they can–for far less than the claim is actually worth. That’s how they make money. And that’s exactly what they did here.
So, “wait” I said, what’s “a lot of money.” “They sent me a check for $10,000!” he exclaimed. He was in his early 20s, in school, and working part time. He hadn’t ever seen $10,000 before. The insurance company was betting on this. He eagerly accepted
My hunch is that his case might have been worth a million dollars — 100 times what the insurance company offered him. (I didn’t want to add insult to injury by telling him this.)
I asked why he didn’t think to hire a lawyer. He said he couldn’t afford one. He didn’t know that most car accident lawyers take cases on contingency. That means that they only get paid if you actually win the case! If you don’t win, you don’t pay the lawyer. Most injury lawyers would have happily accepted his case. And a good one would have gotten him a far better settlement.
The moral of the story is: if you’re hurt in a car crash, call a good lawyer right away! Ganguly Brothers PLLC has handled numerous car accident cases in the Rochester area. And, just like some of those big personal injury firms from Buffalo or elsewhere, we won’t charge you a penny until we win your case. But unlike some other firms, we’re small enough to give each client the care and attention they deserve.
Contact us today for free.
(Photo credit: Aleksandr Neplokhov at Pexels)